The Villain's Counterattack

Chapter 127: Visiting Kongtong, Talking about Xie Xun, Pointing out the Black Hand

After throwing the things he got from Xian Yutong to the Mongolian Tartars at the foot of Mount Hua, and selling the horse to a passing merchant at a high price, Song Qingshu continued on his journey. As for such a small matter as defeating Xian Yutong, Song Qingshu was disdainful of spreading the news. The "divine fortune teller" was not famous for his martial arts. He was proficient in calculations, conspiracies and tricks.

If the relationship between Huashan and Wudang is just average, then the Kongtong Sect is not so polite to Wudang, and the root of the problem lies with Xie Xun.

Xie Xun murdered people everywhere to steal martial arts manuals, but he only managed to snatch two advanced martial arts manuals: the Shaolin Lion's Roar and the Kongtong School's Seven Injury Fist. Those manuals were useless without deep internal energy. Song Qingshu obtained the complete manual from Zhang Wuji and adapted it into the Five Organs Body Refining Technique, a form of external body training that works from the inside out.

It does sound ridiculous. Most external martial arts are trained from the outside to the inside, but this martial art adapted from the "Seven Injury Fist" is trained from the inside to the outside. The focus is on training the internal organs, strengthening the blood and increasing all aspects of the body's quality. It can be said to be a top-level external martial art.

The Kongtong School, one of the six major sects, enjoys considerable prestige in the western frontier. Kongtong Mountain is strategically situated at the junction of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Ningxia, overlooking Xi'an to the east, Lanzhou to the west, Baoji to the south, and Yinchuan to the north. It served as a crucial point on the ancient Silk Road's western route out of Guanzhong. Since ancient times, it has been known as "the first mountain in the west," "a wonder of the western town," and "Kongtong Mountain's most beautiful scenery." Its unique Danxia landforms, including its stone pillars and peaks, and other geological structures are breathtakingly beautiful, a sight to behold.

Song Qingshu visited Kongtong. The five elders of Kongtong were quite impressed by this young man who spoke eloquently at Zhang Sanfeng's 100th birthday more than two years ago and lied to reveal the murderer behind the Yu Daying tragedy. Although they were very dissatisfied with Zhang Cuishan's insistence on not revealing Xie Xun's whereabouts, they had no prejudice against Song Qingshu.

Although the five elders of Kongtong were not outstanding in martial arts (compared to the seven heroes of Wudang), they were very straightforward and foul-mouthed and easily offended people. Not long after they entertained Song Qingshu, they scolded Zhang Cuishan. However, Song Qingshu did not just sit there and listen. He drew his sword and defeated the five elders of Kongtong in a one-on-one fight, which made everyone in Kongtong unable to accept it for a while.

It was then that Song Qingshu explained his purpose. Firstly, as this was his first time in the martial arts world, he had to come. Kongtong was one of the six major sects, and to show respect, he had to pay a visit in person and get to know the sect so that it would be easier to talk when they met in the future.

The Five Elders of Kongtong were very happy to hear Song Qingshu say that he came to pay a visit to the mountain on his first trip to the martial arts world. They felt that Kongtong, as one of the six major sects, had a good reputation.

Song Qingshu then raised his own doubts. How did Xie Xun manage to snatch the "Seven Injury Fist" manual back then? You have to know that a secret manual of this sect's caliber would surely be well-protected. Back then, Xie Xun was beaten like a dog by Cheng Kun. Although he had enemies everywhere, his martial arts skills, to be honest, were not as good as those of the current Wudang Seven Heroes.

Then Song Qingshu told them everything he had heard about Xie Xun, including his master and his general deeds in the Ming Cult, his family changes and his personality changes. The Five Elders of Kongtong also knew some of these things, but not in such detail. Moreover, Song Qingshu did not comment much, but just told the story truthfully, which made the Five Elders of Kongtong believe him a little.

"The Ming Cult is called the Demon Cult because of their extreme and murderous behavior. This killing was directed at us Han people, but more often at the Mongols. Back when Yang Dingtian was still around, although there were some conflicts with famous and upright sects like us, most of the time we lived in peace. Until Yang Dingtian's mysterious disappearance, the Ming Cult was leaderless and in chaos. Then Xie Xun wreaked havoc on the martial arts world, and more and more Ming Cult members became evil and extremely cruel." Song Qingshu shrugged and said, "We Wudang disciples act in an upright and honest manner, so naturally we cannot stand the Demon Cult's behavior. Even I took care of some Ming Cult Tartars along the way."

The five elders of Kongtong were slightly stunned. "Mingjiao Tartars?"

Song Qingshu nodded and said, "Yes, it's the Tartar who calls himself the Ming Cult. I don't care whether he is a Tartar or a Han Chinese. As long as he is a demon cult member who does evil, I will not let him go. I will break his legs and hands him over to the victim."

"That's true, but it's unlikely that the Tartars would join the Ming Cult, right?" Tang Wenliang didn't quite believe it. "Young Master Song, you might have been deceived."

"But they keep calling themselves the Demonic Cult." Song Qingshu looked very confused.

The five elders of Kongtong couldn't help laughing out loud. The eldest one Guan Neng laughed and said, "That's absolutely correct. How could those demon followers call themselves the Demon Cult? They all call themselves the Ming Cult or the Holy Cult. Those Tartars are naturally fakes..." When he said this, Guan Neng's smile gradually faded.

"Young Master Song, I'm afraid there's something else behind your words?" The Five Elders of Kongtong were not fools and they quickly discovered the problem. How could Song Qingshu, who was able to roam the world alone, not see such a simple loophole? It was obvious that they were hinting at something.

Song Qingshu bowed to the Five Elders of Kongtong and said, "Qingshu, in my first journey through the martial arts world, I witnessed how the Han people were being bullied by the Tartars. The ones who resisted the Tartars the most were the so-called Demon Cultists. I once rescued a seven-year-old Demon Cultist on the road. At such an innocent age, he was being hunted by the Mongol Tartars simply because his father wanted to make life better for the Han people and resisted their exploitation. There was also a Demon Cultist who, despite being seriously injured, still took an arrow for that child, refusing to yield. Even before his wounds had healed, he hurried off to another place to continue his resistance against the Tartars."

"That man's name is Chang Yuchun. Although he is only twenty years old, he has a beard and scars all over his body. I am afraid that there are at least eighty Tartars who died at his hands, if not one hundred. I have never seen him oppress the people. On the contrary, he has a lot of affection for the people because he also comes from a poor family. Along the way, I have seen many Tartars kill people by picking up surnames. He asked for surnames along the way and killed all those with the surname Zhang. He beat up the others and let them go. There were also several second- and third-rate Tartar masters who changed their clothes and claimed to be demon cultists to do evil. If you don't believe me, just go and ask. Quite a few people saw me taking action." Song Qingshu reported a place name and time, which he thought was not false.

"Young Master Song, are you trying to speak well of Xie Xun this time? That's impossible. Xie Xun stole our sect's treasured manual, the 'Seven Injury Fist Manual'. Even if Master Zhang protected him, it wouldn't work." Zong Weixia doubted Song Qingshu's purpose.

"Hmph, although Xie Xun stole the Dragon Slaying Sword by mistake, which prevented the conspiracy of the person behind the scenes from expanding further, and also made Xie Xun's disappearance one less person to blame, it is undeniable that he has made countless mistakes. I'm talking to the five seniors because I want you to be more vigilant. The person who helped Xie Xun steal the "Seven Injury Fist Manual" and killed the monk Kongjian after Xie Xun cheated and injured him has never been found, so we need to be more careful. It is very likely that the person changed his identity and hid in Shaolin Temple." Song Qingshu insisted that there was a problem inside Shaolin.

The five elders of Kongtong were shocked. "What does this mean?"

"Do the five elders really think that Xie Xun can steal the boxing manual from Kongtong? If he didn't have someone helping him, how could he have succeeded? If he didn't succeed, how could Kongtong have launched a campaign to hunt down Xie Xun, thus making that person's smear campaign against Xie Xun a reality? Kongtong is one of the six major sects of the righteous path. It's impossible for Xie Xun, who is barely a first-rate martial artist, to steal the boxing manual. But if the person helping him is a renowned, top-notch master, then it would be a different story."

"Cheng Kun, the Master of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand?" The Five Elders of Kongtong were horrified. "Cheng Kun is in Shaolin?"

"I'm just guessing. Divine Monk Kongjian couldn't have gone looking for Xie Xun for no reason. According to the information I extracted from Xiao Wuji, Divine Monk Kongjian was kind-hearted and wanted to influence Xie Xun. He took the Seven Wounds Fist head-on without getting hurt, but ended up injuring Xie Xun himself. Xie Xun pretended to commit suicide, forcing Divine Monk Kongjian to rescue him. Then he suddenly used the Seven Wounds Fist to injure him. After listening to Xie Xun's sobbing, Divine Monk Kongjian realized there might be something fishy going on. He also saw that Xie Xun's martial arts skills were only average, and that many of the tragedies were beyond his ability. Suspicious, he let him go, but was killed on his way back."

"Xie Xun committed countless evil deeds, yet he never disdained to lie. He's a calculating fool. If everything he said is true, then guess where the man who plotted against and killed the monk Kongjian is hiding?" Song Qingshu asked, "Where else could he hide from the scrutiny of the martial arts world? Back then, he was a renowned master, yet now he's completely gone. Haven't you ever given it any thought?"

"Have you mentioned all this to Shaolin Sankong?" Guan Neng suddenly asked, "Since this concerns Shaolin, you shouldn't just be making random assumptions, right?"

"Two years ago, on my Grand Master's 100th birthday, we captured a Tartar. He turned out to be the mastermind behind the Dragon Slaying Blade that injured my Third Grand Master. Since it involved the Vajra Finger, Grand Master handed the man over to San Kong. Who would have thought that he would disappear the next day after being brought to Shaolin? If I say there's no traitor in Shaolin, would you believe it?"

"Please continue to call for the death of Xie Xun in the future, but when you travel the Jianghu, only pursue evil deeds and evildoers, not their origins." Song Qingshu sighed leisurely, "But I don't want our prestigious sect to end up being called a lackey of the Mongols."

The Five Elders of Kongtong were speechless. They really couldn't bear this title. They were not sure whether they would accept disciples in the future. It seemed that you came to the mountain just in the hope that you would not be implicated by us, who are also one of the six major sects, and become a running dog of the Mongols.